There is a high probability Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis won’t miss the chance for a wacky good time with Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and Attorney General Pam Bondi if they go on the Giant Slide on Thursday.

This will be Patronis’ first appearance as a member of the Cabinet when the state officials hold a largely ceremonial meeting in Tampa timed with the kick-off of the Florida State Fair.

Typically, members of the Cabinet take to the slide if the weather is good. Putnam has done the slide in his cowboy boots, while Bondi has kept her heels on, and Gov. Rick Scott isn’t known for partaking in the plunge. No news yet on what kicks Patronis might sport, if he joins in the fun.

A “flip the switch” event kicks off the fair at 6:15 a.m., then Putnam — a Republican who’s running for governor — will host a “Fresh From Florida” breakfast prior to an agenda-lite Cabinet meeting in the Bob Thomas Equestrian Center Pavilion, which starts at 9 a.m.

“It is laughable that a candidate running to be Florida’s Chief Legal Officer would offer up such erroneous and egregious attacks on the proven record of a former and well respected federal prosecutor and circuit court judge. Ashley Moody is pro-Second Amendment and the only candidate who has supported Second Amendment priorities like Stand Your Ground in the courtroom. These are real world distinctions that matter to voters, and issues which Ashley Moody has shared with Republican activists across the state these last months and throughout her career. Not only is Ashley Moody a staunch supporter of our President, but she has secured the endorsements of those who worked tirelessly on behalf of the President’s campaign, including law enforcement officials and elected leaders across the state. We look forward to highlighting these conservative values at the January RPOF meeting.”

UPDATED: RPOF Chairman Blaise Ingoglia gave us this smackdown about Jay Fant’s request to have Ashley Moody banned from the party’s annual meeting next month:

“All Republicans running for statewide office are welcome to attend RPOF meetings. We will not, and should not, interject ourselves in the middle of primaries. Nor, should the RPOF become the arbiter of a candidates conservative credentials. If Rep. Fant thinks this will resonate with the electorate, then take it directly to the primary voters,” said RPOF Chairman Blaise Ingoglia.

Fant, a Republican state House member from Jacksonville, sent a letter to Republican Party of Florida Chairman Blaise Ingoglia — who, oh by the way, serves in the House with Fant — asking the party boss to ban Moody from the RPOF’s January meeting because she’s “a true liberal and proud of it.”

Moody, a former judge, has garnered a mile-high pile of endorsements from law enforcement leaders and others throughout the state and amassed a finance team that’s a veritable GOP who’s who, including influential lobbyist Brian Ballard.

Fant, who’s’ trailing Moody in fundraising even after dumping $750,000 of his own money into his campaign, accuses Moody of having close ties to the Clinton family — her father was appointed by Bill Clinton to the federal bench. Moody once worked as a speechwriter for “left wing” former American Bar Association President Martha Barnett who is a “close ally” of Hillary Clinton, Fant wrote to Ingoglia. And Moody even sued President Donald Trump (long before he moved into the White House) over a failed development project, Fant pointed out.

Fant says it’s “in the party’s best interest” to blackball Moody from the RPOF’s annual meeting in January.

“The 2018 election ballot is absolutely critical from top to bottom and we simply cannot waste time with candidates who have to hide their past involvement with the Clintons in order to win,” he wrote.

Fant’s asking that the party leadership “refuse Ashley Moody access to the annual meeting and immediately discontinue RPOF’s indirect support of her campaign” through in-kind resources like staff, “that already total more than $23,000,” according to campaign finance reports.

Moody and Fant will face off in the GOP primary against two other state reps — Frank White of Pensacola and Ross Spano of Dover.

We’ve reached out to Moody’s camp for a response, and we’ll update if we get one.

Former CFO Alex Sink has thrown her support behind Jeremy Ring, a former state senator who’s running for the Cabinet post she once held.

According to Sink, a Democrat who lost a bid for governor to Rick Scott in 2010, the CFO spot is “one of the most important statewide cabinet positions in Florida Government.” (It’s one of three statewide cabinet positions.)

Sink called Ring, a Broward County Democrat who was one of the founders of Yahoo, is a “a successful entrepreneur, a dedicated Florida State Senator, a philanthropic supporter and someone who agrees with me that we need to expand, modernize and stimulate our state’s economy through innovation and smart job growth.”

Here’s more of what Sink had to say about Ring in an email announcing her endorsement:

As the former CFO, I know what it takes to succeed in this highly complex and diverse cabinet position. Floridians need someone who is experienced in business, understands the complexities of insurance and financial markets and has the savvy and enthusiasm to tackle the challenges that Florida faces now and in the future.

I truly believe that he is the right choice for Florida CFO!

Please consider making a small contribution, click here, so Jeremy knows you saw my email and endorsement!

Florida’s next chief financial officer may not be seating the next table of four.

An emotional Jimmy Patronis — a former state lawmaker from Panama City who resigned his post on the Public Service Commission Gov. Rick Scott tapped him for the $128,972-a-year spot as Florida’s banker-in-chief — said Monday his phone has blown up as news of the appointment spread.

“I’ve gotten probably about 200 text messages over the last 24 hours,” Patronis said after Scott formally announced the appointment at Patronis’s Captain Anderson‘s Restaurant and Waterfront Market in Panama City. “And probably the most popular one is, ‘Does that mean I can’t contact you anymore to get a table at the restaurant?’ ”

Patronis, who will be sworn in Friday to replace Jeff Atwater, was an early political supporter of Scott’s in 2010.

That fact wasn’t missed by the Florida Democratic Party, which quickly blasted Scott’s selection of Patronis to replace Atwater, who stepped down to take a post at Florida Atlantic University, as “cronyism.”

Scott has used the dockside restaurant for a number of political events, including one of his “work days” back in 2011, when the governor was trying to personalize the issue of unemployment.

“He made me work really hard,” Scott said of Patronis on Monday. “He didn’t let me off the hook. He made sure I sold a dessert to everyone that was here.”

The Patronis family has deep ties in Panama City, where they have owned the popular Captain Anderson’s for five decades. The name is affixed throughout the community, including an elementary school on land donated by the family down the road from the restaurant.